Chicks Offer Clues To Hearing Loss

SCIENCE AND MEDICINE SCOPE

November 19, 1989

Chickens don't play musical instruments, buy stereo sets or go to the opera, but still they are endowed with better hearing than humans, at least in one respect. When the delicate fine hair cells of the inner ear of baby chicks are destroyed by loud sounds, they can regrow those cells and restore lost hearing. Humans and other mammals cannot do that. University of Pennsylvania researchers hope to discover a chemical substance that stimulates the hair growth so that it might be used in humans who have lost some hearing.